Alternative Exercise Isometrics

fitness — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:11:33 +0000

A typical gym workout:

Sweating, breathing hard, watching the timer, cursing under my breath, aching, running out of steam, wishing to be somewhere/anywhere else, bored to tears, embarrassed by the scene in the omni-present mirrors, watching the timer some more, intimidated by the all the other "exercisers", who make what we are doing look like child's play.

Now that we are back to the gym on our pre-holiday schedule, and striving to get back to our 30 minutes minimum on the treadmill, preceded by at least 10 almost agonizing minutes on the dreaded "elliptical"; I thought I might share with you some thoughts.

Oh sure, I know that the upside of such efforts far outweigh the downside; but, I certainly don't have to revel in that knowledge. Exercise has always been work. Hard work. Age and obesity only increase the effort; so, at age 61 with an extra 80 pounds draping my frame, exercise is a four letter word, no matter how you spell it, or perform it.

And granted, I do feel better at the end of each workout session than I did at the outset---at least after my heart rate and respiration normalize---anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes on a "good" day.

Now I'll need about ten minutes or so in a hot and relaxingshower... followed by at least a ten minute "cool off" period before getting dressed. It's cold and rainy today, so the trek through the parking lot to the car, followed by the fifteen minute drive home won't do my cold much good.

So, here I am. Back in my cozy, safe office in just under two hours...still sweating...with legs that still think they are on the treadmill. Walking normally again will require another bit of adjustment.

That's pretty much been the routine since the day after Christmas; resulting so far in a disappointing net loss of one of the nine pounds I regained during the Thanksgiving to Christmas "eating marathon", that occurs in a family of excellent and creative cooks.

Certain that, for all of my efforts, I deserved a lot more than a one pound reward, I did a "google" for ALTERNATIVE EXERCISE; and was presented with a host of options (859,000 "possibles"). Everything from belly dancing and yoga to martial arts and "water exercise for non-swimmers". Nothing immediately caught my interest till I hit the page about Isometrics; and was reminded of the truly remarkable results achieved by my high school wrestling team when they switched to using the Isometric exercise routine exclusively, and started winning match after match.

Isometrics has been practiced since even longer ago than my high school years....for thousands of years, in fact; used by athletes and health conscious civilians alike. There are probably even biblical references---cave paintings at least, though I can personally vouch for neither.

Thinking to narrow the search, I did another "google". This time for "isometrics define" and was treated to 565,000 results. Not much relief there.

So, it's one more search, this time going right to the source---a search for "isometrics" yielded a little over four million results. That is if you can consider 140,000 to be a "little over".

And as usual, a significant number of those results have been created by someone with something to sell. One gentleman in particular shows up everywhere with a "super-deluxe, one-of-a-kind, guaranteed results GIZMO". His pages are well done, and are actually kind of entertaining; especially when you know as an absolute fact that a major advantage of Isometrics is that it can be done anywhere, anytime, by nearly anyone...with absolutely NO SPECIAL EQUIPMENT REQUIRED.

Sure, the GIZMO with the funny name, might be fun; and if someone gives you one, don't throw it away. Just put it in the closet where it was probably destined to end up anyhow.

For now, here's a free "intro to Isometrics lesson" that you can expand as you see fit:

(1) Put your palms together in front of you at chest height.

(2) Push; and count slowly to seven.

Well done! You're off to a great start.

Check back here regularly as we add more exercises and share some of our own personal results.

Our websites currently deal primarily with Weight Control; but we will be adding Isometrics information on a regular basis.
Stop by when you get a chance:Weight Control

For a Sales Page that doesn't sell; but does provide a wealth of information about Isometrics, visit: Strength training,

You're welcome anytime.

Till next time,

Fred

P.S. Read about how to build immune system and other useful tips on the quoted blog.

Post from: Diets And Fitness

Alternative Exercise Isometrics

Diets And Fitness » Isometrics

Alternative Exercise Isometrics